Pending an agreement with the Colorado State Land Board, Fort Lewis College stands to gain 6,300 acres of possibility at the Old Fort at Hesperus starting July 1.
In June, the school’s Board of Trustees will consider an agreement with the state for the college to assume day-to-day management of all activities on the historic campus. What changes are on the horizon are unclear; in the months ahead, the college intends to form a committee of community members and Fort Lewis College staff, faculty and students that will make recommendations to the Board of Trustees on future leases and land-use proposals.
“Fort Lewis has demonstrated they can manage 6,300 acres,” said Tobin Follenweider, deputy director of the state land board. “It serves their educational and community outreach goals. They’re self-sufficient, managed thousands of property visitors and found compatible projects for the land.”
Colorado State University, which leased land at the Old Fort for research, returned its interests to the state in 2013 after state funding cuts, and conversations about the managerial structure of the state land began.
As the name implies, the Old Fort’s first incarnation was as a military base from 1880 to 1881. It was turned over to the Interior Department for a Native American school.
In 1910, the federal government transferred ownership to the state on the condition it maintain it as an institution of learning and provide free education to Native Americans. The property was occupied by a high school, and thereafter, Fort Lewis College and a research institute established by FLC and Colorado State University.
Fort Lewis College relocated to Durango in 1956, but the school continued to use an allotment for agricultural activity, educational programs, a community garden and other uses.
The beneficiary use agreement opens up the land for potential new uses; a solar garden is one option. When the gas industry recovers, the state also expects renewed interest in oil and gas development on the property.
“A variety of renewable energy projects and educational uses have been brought up for the Old Fort, but a working group will pick up that discussion in more detail if the Board of Trustees approves the beneficiary use agreement,” said Mitch Davis, Fort Lewis College spokesperson.
The college is among six tenants occupying the land whose contracts expire June 30, 2017. Others include Cugnini Cattle Company and ElkQuest, which hold grazing leases, and Southwest Conservation Corps, Mesa Verde Helitack and Fort Lewis Mesa Fire Department, which pay in-kind contributions, such as improvements to the property.
Last year, 3,066 students and faculty and 1,252 community members used or participated in activities on the property, and net revenue for the 2014-15 fiscal year was about $96,400.
“Over the years, we’ve had activities out there, but not recently because of the indecision over what to do with the land,” said Bob Bragg, head of the Four Corners Draft Horse, Mule and Carriage Association, which spent a recent Saturday harrowing land at the Old Fort. “This is a good facility for using horses, and a good location for those who come up from Farmington, Cortez like me, or Pagosa Springs. We’d like to keep using it.”
Cugnini Cattle has leased land at the Old Fort for six years. Co-owner Chris Cugnini said she hopes her family’s business, which grazes cows from June to October, can extend its lease after June 2017.
ElkQuest will not renew its lease due to disagreements between the company’s owner, Barry Dyar, and the college over his use of the land.
Davis said existing leases will be evaluated closer to the 2017 expiration date, and after the college Board of Trustees votes on the beneficiary use agreement June 3.
jpace@durangoherald.com
This article has been updated to correct errors in the early timeline of the Old Fort campus.
